March 30, 2008
| Easter 2, 2008 | Acts 2:14a, 22-32 | |
| 1 Peter 1:3-9 | ||
| John 20:19-31 |
INHERITANCE
- "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who are being protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice, even if now for a little while you have had to suffer various trials, so that the genuineness of your faith-- being more precious than gold that, though perishable, is tested by fire-- may be found to result in praise and glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Although you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy, for you are receiving the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls."
(1 Peter 1:3-9)
The passage from first Peter speaks of inheritance. You can tell the subject of inheritance is sensitive because there are jokes about it.
"Grampa, can you make a sound like a frog?"
"I don't know, maybe. Why do you ask?"
"'Cause Mom says as soon as you croak we can all go to Disney World."
We have inheritance jokes because the real thing isn't funny.
We can imagine a prodigal who would take something built up over decades, and just blow it on Disney World. Cooler heads always resent the prodigal.
Inheritance. I have seen the jealousy and resentment that happened when four out of six children got equal shares of a dairy farm, and the other two children received nothing. That happened to someone I know, -he was one of the two with nothing- and the pain was not about the money. At the reading of that will, my friend lost his sense of belonging.
But we also know a softer side of inheritance. The deep joy of having something that belonged to a parent or grandparent. Not the lust for easy money, but the joy of holding a treasured possession- a watch- a rocking chair- a ring, Grandmother's good china. Their cash value is irrelevant. These things are treasured because they carry memories.
When my father died, my son Graham began wearing a coat that was my Dad's. In terms of money, that coat had no value to speak of. But it gave my son a certain pleasure to wear his grandfather's jacket.
Inheritance can help us feel connected.
We could wish for some THING that would connect us to God. A thing. Something to have and hold and look at. Something that Jesus touched.
Perhaps it is this desire that has fueled the relentless search for the historical Jesus. From the shroud of Turin to the tours of sacred sites in Palestine, people across the centuries have wanted to see. Something from Jesus.
Friends, what will keep us close to Jesus? How will we get our hands on something that says we belong?
Think again of that prized possession that was handed down to you. The watch, the rocking chair, the dishes.
We treasure them because of the relationship we have with the one who left them for us.
But consider this: Each generation is further removed from the original owner. At some point the personal connection erodes, and fades. With the passage of enough time, a treasured heirloom becomes a commodity.
Think about it. If every family kept every treasure with all emotional ties intact, antique shops would have nothing to offer. The fact is, the memories also die when those who remember pass away.
We wonder and worry about that kind of Spiritual loss of memory.
The Apostles who were eyewitnesses to Jesus of Nazareth spent their lives telling what they saw and heard. But as mere mortals they began to die one by one. They all walked off the stage.
The church had to reckon with the need to preserve their witness. The oral testimony of a living witness was committed to letters on paper. How would the treasure be preserved? How could the message be as vital on paper as in the flesh? How would this inheritance be treated- will it be preserved, or squandered?
The church needs reassurance that something precious is not lost. Listen to this remark by the theologian Adolf Schlatter. It's from his book, "The Theology of the Apostles" (p. 53.)
"Union with Jesus is not the result of a mystical experience; it is rather grounded in the outcome of Jesus' earthly life: his cross, resurrection, exaltation and return. "
Here is Good News. You can't un-ring a bell. The outcome of Jesus' cross, resurrection is fixed. When Jesus said, "It is finished." he meant forever. When the Risen Christ said "Don't be afraid." he meant it.
And those New Testament witnesses had full confidence that the treasure would not fade with human memory because God's love is not dependant on a good filing system, nor on some conjured emotional frenzy.
The message of Christ, crucified and risen is not a set of teachings intended to give insight to the listener. The Apostles knew that to preach Christ was and is the bestowal of Divine Grace through the Living Word.
In the hearing of the Word we are born again, and those who are born are family, and in God's family the inheritance does not divide, but unites.
Listen again: "By his great mercy he has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who are being protected by the power of God"
The WILL has been read and there is something for you. In the cross of Christ there is forgiveness of sins and that now belongs to you. Forgiveness is yours in Christ. In the resurrection of Christ is a promise that death is not the last word and that life belongs to you by your birth in Christ.
You inherit. You belong. This is real and unfading, and it holds for those who did not see Jesus of Nazareth in the flesh. As early as the first century, the Apostles knew believers who never saw the man Jesus.
Again I quote
"Although you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy..."
Even here, even now, the inheritance is kept for you. As Jesus said to Thomas, "Blessed are those who have not seen, and yet have come to believe." (John 20:29)
Those who have ears to hear, let them hear.